PROJECT SUMMARY ? LIFE CORE The SEI Vision Research Group has a longstanding track record of using mouse models to study ocular processes and disorders. The in vivo characterization of these mouse models is carried out using the testing modalities provided by the LIFE Core. This resource has been available since 1999 as part of the Nusinowitz Laboratory and, since 2009, has been a component of the SEI Core Grant. With the growth of projects using a wide variety of mouse strains and mutants, and the expansion of translational research projects to modify or rescue ocular disorders, the LIFE component technologies are crucial for monitoring a broad range of experiments in living animals. The LIFE Core component will continue to offer a broad range of in vivo functional and structural testing customized to the needs of the investigator's research interests. The LIFE Core will be used to define the structural and functional phenotypes in acquired or newly generated mouse mutants to confirm whether they display the expected phenotypes, visual behavior and/or electrophysiological responses. In addition, investigators will continue to use the LIFE Core to document the natural history of disease in mouse models before they are used for interventional experiments, including those that are viral vector, stem cell, or pharmacologically based. The LIFE directors are committed to the provision of state-of-the-art non-invasive imaging and functional analysis of mouse models of ocular disease. Equipment and software algorithms are upgraded on a regular basis. We recently updated our Bioptigen sd-OCT to provide higher resolution retinal images and have added new optical bores to image the anterior segment in rodents. The latter is a new capability and highlights our interest in broadening the relevance of this resource to other investigators at SEI. In addition, we acquired a new Celeris Electrodiagnostics System for functional evaluation of the retina and visual pathway that will replace an aging custom-made system. Over the next study period we will expand the imaging capabilities by adding a Heidelberg HRA-II for wide-field imaging of fluorescent biomarkers and autofluorescence, and we will continue to work with our colleagues at Doheny Eye Institute, our affiliated eye hospital, to develop OCT-A for the mouse. Lastly, we will be adding behavioral testing of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity with the optokinetic reflex, and developing new behavioral paradigms to study rod and cone function in retinal degeneration.